The Canadian team received well wishes from Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, who was a medal favourite in hurdles before coming up short at the Olympic trials.

"Good luck to all my friends and competitors at the Olympics, can't wait to see you all back on circuit," tweeted Lopes-Schliep, who won a bronze medal in Beijing.

Swimmer Julia Wilkinson, a backstroker from Stratford, Ont., had her nails painted red, white and gold this week to show her Olympic spirit.

"They're really obnoxious," she laughed.

They're also an example of the swagger Canada's swim team is bringing to London. Off the podium in 2004 and winning a one bronze in 2008, the nation's swimmers are targeting a three-medal performance in London and hope to place swimmers in 13 to 15 finals.

"It's completely different," Wilkinson said. "Four years ago, it was 'we hope we can make some finals.'

"Now, it's 'who is going to be the first one to win a medal?' We've kind of come in with this swagger, and we believe we can do it."

Victoria's Ryan Cochrane won Canada's only swimming medal in Beijing when he claimed bronze in the 1,500-metre freestyle. He's a medal favourite in that event again, but he also thinks he can win some hardware in the 400 metres. The 23-year-old was fifth in the event at the world championships last year.

"I'm really excited to race that event, especially after last year's world championships," Cochrane said. "It was the first time -- was in the mix, in the medal hunt."

While the swimmers are using past experience as motivation in London, tennis star Milos Raonic mentally prepared for his first Games by talking to Wayne Gretzky.

"He told me that the competition is a big thing for sure, but he said the most special thing was meeting other athletes and just learning from them and hearing different stories," Raonic said.

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments.
All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.